16 January 2013

Obama to Announce "Expansive" Assault Weapons Ban

President Barack Obama is prepared to announce the "most aggressive and expansive national gun-control agenda in generations", reports the Washington Post. The President's proposals will reportedly include banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as "mandating background checks for all firearms buyers."

In addition to background checks and restrictions on military-style guns and ammunition magazines, Obama is expected to propose mental health and school safety initiatives such as more federal funding for police officers in schools, according to lawmakers and interest group leaders whom White House officials briefed on the plans. ...

Obama also is expected to present up to 19 executive actions that his administration will take, the lawmakers and advocates said. These steps include enhanced federal scientific research on gun violence and a modernized federal database system to track guns, criminals and the mentally ill. ..

Obama’s proposals amount to the most comprehensive federal regulations of the firearms industry since 1968, when President Lyndon B. Johnson acted in the aftermath of high-profile assassinations.

Banning high-capacity magazines would have an immediate impact. Similar high capacity ammunition clips were used in several recent high-profile shootings "whose victims have included a member of Congress in Arizona, moviegoers in Colorado and first graders in Connecticut," added the New York Times.

The White House proposal on gun control comes at the same time two of the nation's largest states are considering similar legislation.

The New York State Senate voted 43-18 last night to "expand the state’s ban on assault weapons and would include new measures to keep guns away from people with mental illnesses," added The Times. New York would become "the first state to act in response" to the horrific December 2012 mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school .

Meanwhile in Illinois: Legislators have introduced proposals that would severely restrict the "sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines."